Girl Genius/Tropes U-Z

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Tropes A-E | Tropes F-J | Tropes K-O| Tropes P-T | Tropes U-Z

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Girl Genius provides examples of the following tropes:

U

• Understatement: Vanamonde pulls out a great one:

Vanamonde: Um -- I wonder if growing up here might make us a little... weird...

• Undying Loyalty
  • All Jägers seem to be this to the Heterodynes. This page may explain the loyalty best for the Jägers. Vole is the exception, having stopped considering himself a Jäger.
  • Also Castle Heterodyne.
  • Mechanisburg is full of descendants of the people who were loyal to the Heterodynes. This became a major part of Mechaniacs' identity.
  • In the novelization, it's revealed that Dr. Vapnoople's creations, except for Krosp, were destroyed because their loyalty couldn't be shifted to the Baron.
    • Some of them^spoilers!, at least.
• Unfamiliar Ceiling: When Gil wakes up in Mama Gkika's, he assumes he's been out of action for days when it's only been a few hours.
• Unreliable Narrator: Klaus encoded a message to his son in a story he tricked Phil into delivering. Although we only see the tail end of Phil's version, its clearly different, and judging by Gil's reaction he screwed up most of the symbolism (that is, the entirety of the message) too. Luckily, Tarvek notices something is up.
• Unresolved Sexual Tension: Jeez, Agatha, just make out with Gil already...
  • Same deal with Tarvek. Everyone is flustered.
• Unsound Effect
  • Spork! Spork! Spork!
  • SNEAK SNEAK SNEAK SNEAK SNEAK
  • Mite! Mite! Mite!
  • Tome! (Notice also the title of the book...)
  • Shove!
  • DOOOM
  • Subtle, but when the Jaegers are clapping here, the sound effect is in the Jaeger's accent.
• Unstoppable Rage: The Unstoppable Higgs, of course.
• Unusual Euphemism
  • Coprolitic, literally meaning fossilised dung, therefore an ancient piece of shit.

Professor Mezzasalma: Useless Inferior Coprolitic Components!

• • "I am sure he intends to wed her most vigorously!"
• Unwilling Suspension
• Up to Eleven: The "Movit" series of stimulants comes in a verity of intensities, the strongest of which appears to be 11. Previously, it was thought that the strongest was 6, which itself is one above the common 1-5 scale.

Tarvek: Wait-- I thought it only went up to six!

V

• Vetinari Job Security: Hilariously deconstructed with Baron Wulfenbach. He completely fits the description in that he is so important and necessary for the continued functioning of Europa that only a madman would think about overthrowing him. Unfortunately, this being Girl Genius, there are powerful madmen (a.k.a. Sparks) everywhere, which is why there is nearly always a rebellion somewhere. Further illustrated in that, as soon as he is hospitalized (and possibly killed), the whole continent immediately erupts in chaos... and when he puts Mechanicsburg into temporal stasis with himself at the centre of the effect, the entire continent collapses into anarchy.
• Victoria's Secret Compartment: The Other does this, as fits her personality (but not Agatha's, providing a minor bit of hilarity).
• Villainous Breakdown: Dr. Merlot wasn't exactly the most sane individual in Volume 1. His little story in Volume 9 seems to indicate that he might be having some difficulties.
• Visible Silence: Appears often, but then four times in a row here.
• Visual Pun: Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you... Santa Klaus. Double as Badass Santa also!
• Vitriolic Best Buds: Gil and Tarvek. At each other's throats one minute, talking shop on espionage the next.
• Volleying Insults: Gil and Tarvek in the Cinderella story.

W

• Wasn't That Fun?: Occurs in this strip, after Agatha, Gil, and Tarvek try revivification.
• Weapon Tombstone: Agatha Clay's grave has the remnants of a warbot, a tree, and a pile of rocks with a death ray stuck in it.
• Webcomic Time: Agatha has been trying to get into and/or repair Castle Heterodyne for at least two years now. Tarvek was critically ill and about to die for just short of 15 months. The general concept is lampshaded in this strip. And again here, "It only seem like deyz been in de kestle a long time!"
  • Also played with here. On the surface the joke is that cats are forgetful assholes, but it really has been three years of real-world time since Krosp was last on-panel.
  • And brought to painful light here. Lars died in the December 15th, 2006 strip, or over thirteen and a half years ago for readers. But for Agatha that was barely one subjective month ago, even it's been two years and seven months for most other characters due to the temporal stasis timeskip.
• Weird Science: All over the place.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist
  • Baron Klaus Wulfenbach, as exposed in these two pages.
  • Othar Tryggvassen here.
• We Meet Again: It shouldn't come too much as a surprise that Othar would say it.

Othar: Wulfenbach! We meet again!

• • Tarvek and Krosp, in an awkward way.
• We Need a Distraction: Gil and Tarvek help, in a fight scene incorporating many battle tropes.
• Wet Sari Scene: Here, with material for everyone!
• Wham! Episode
  • Zeetha!!
  • Aaronev gets fried - he was really asking for it, but this still was a surprise.
  • The first slaver-cooties check we have seen.
  • Wasp-eater shrieking at Gil.
  • The illustrious arrival of the Pink Airship and Zola.
• Wham! Line
  • "I believe the ignorant call them slaver wasps."
  • "As do the hundred and seventy others we have discovered on board the Castle so far."
  • "Yes... but I vas starting to like her." Also pulling double duty as a Pre-Ass-Kicking One-Liner.
  • Violetta, in the last panel. The whole last row, really. We knew it all along, but the lady in the chair didn't.
  • "Just go to sleep."
  • "WRONG!"
  • "You were infected before you even met her."
  • "Martellus... there is no Empire."
• What Are You in For?
  • When our heroes come across Mr. Foglio in the dungeons of Prince Aaronev:

Maxim: Vot hyu in for? Foglio: Bad storytelling. Maxim: Ho! How hyu do dot? Foglio: You put the Prince in the story.

• • Sanaa asked Agatha this when she first entered the castle.
• What Do You Mean It's Not Awesome?: Volume Seven, Page 52. That must be good coffee.
• What Does She See in Him?
• What Happened to the Mouse?: The monster horse that appeared during Master Payne's Circus story: we never know why it was/turned into such a hideous abomination, and it was never addressed again. Likely just because a spark felt like it, and because monsters are so common in this setting that it is a mundane hazard.
• What the Hell, Hero?: "TRULY YOU ARE YOUR MOTHER'S CHILD!" More understandable than some, since the one calling Agatha out murdered her parental figures in cold blood, but everyone Von Pinn worked with considers her tough but fair, and likes her. And she is the closest thing Gil had to a mother. Agatha's response is a heck of a lot of guilt.
• When All You Have Is a Hammer: This pretty much describes Zeetha to a T.

Violetta: Seriously? 'They're looking for the wasp eater?' Right in front of them?!? Zeetha: All right! Yes! I am very bad at the subtle, okay? (She turns and does a flying sidekick that tears the head right off a charging battle clank) Zeetha: Fortunately, I hardly ever need it.

• When I Was Your Age: Zeetha does this here.
• Who Dares?: The Dragon of Mars
• Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Gil and Agatha take turns saving Zola from dozens of incredibly deadly traps that she keeps falling into in Castle Heterodyne. That is, until they encounter a slightly-larger-than-average spider.
• Why Didn't You Just Say So?: In this strip -- and yes, Zola did say so four strips previously.
• Why Don't Ya Just Shoot Him:

Tarvek: She has that big gun -- why didn't she shoot us first? Lucrezia: Well, it only shoots marshmallows, for one thing...

• • Later on, Martellus is busy trying to abduct Agatha while they're both under attack by Wulfenbach forces:

Agatha: He's hit! Krosp: Great! He took out that last clank! (tosses Martellus' rifle to Agatha) Here, shoot him! Quick!

• Why Won't You Die?: Zola quickly learns that Higgs is very hard to kill.
• Will They or Won't They?: Gil and Agatha, most frequently impeded by terrible miscommunication and Gil's bad luck and Castle Heterodyne. It's sure looking like they will...
• With Great Power Comes Great Insanity
  • The Sparks, by definition; Baron Wulfenbach fights this off by pure force of will... usually. Every successful Spark has at least one very level-headed keeper.
  • The Heterodyne familly in particular. Apparently their unearthly strength and stamina comes from drinking from a spring famed for causing insanity and death in people who just bathed in it.
  • It's implied that the reason the Storm King was regarded as the greatest king of all time is because he was able to keep enough self-control to rule effectively. This may have been at least partially due to the influence of the Muses.
• World of Badass: Show us a character who's not Badass, and within a couple of strips they'll either turn out to be badass or they'll be dead. In a world ruled by mad scientists, even the minions and staff have to be pretty tough to avoid getting killed.
• World of Buxom: Just about every post-puberty female character, notably Agatha, Zeetha, the white spiderwomen, and Mama Gkika. The Muses and Clank Anevka have pretty darned voluptuous figures, too. The only three exceptions are Rivet, Wrench Wench for Master Payne's Circus and Daiyu, the doctor's daughter, who would be decent-sized in any other work, and Grantz, the immensely strong monster hunter who falls firmly into the Bifauxnen slot.
  • Combined with some C-Cup Angst this strip:

Zeetha: Does this make my chest look too big? Agatha: No. Zeetha: Drat.

• World of Ham: Naturally. A bit of hamminess is part of the Spark package.
• Worth It
  • This is Agatha's attitude in the Cinderella play to being grounded. Of course, she was grounded after tricking Mamma Gkika's "Evil Stepmother" into putting her fist through a hive of specially-bred quilting bees.
  • And in a more serious town, Klaus's attitude to the pain he suffered getting to the window and back. Not only that, Klaus actually said that if the experience paralyzed him for the rest of his life, it would still be worth it after seeing his son pull off that moment of awesome.
• Would Hit a Girl: Pretty much everyone, since there are more than enough dangerous females to dispatch anyone reluctant to fight back. Some notable examples:
  • Ardsley Wooster punching Bangladesh DuPree in the face.
  • Airman Higgs beating the crap out of Zola.
  • Tarvek absolutely losing it when Zola tries to kill Agatha again and brutally beating her -- and then trying to strangle her to death.
  • However, it's still recommended that this trope not be followed if it isn't necessary. Some may take issue with it being applied without restriction.
• Wounded Gazelle Gambit: Tarvek pulls one off here.
• Wrench Wench: Agatha just loves wrenches...
• Wrench Whack: And, naturally, they're used as melee weapons quite often.
  • Agatha, against Moloch, Vole, and Prof. Tiktoffen.
  • Gil, against Othar.
  • In the flashback, Airman Higgs is shown Dual-Wielding two wrenches.
• Written Sound Effect: Frequently, and often quite creative.
• Wrong Genre Savvy
  • Othar, sometimes.
  • Also Krosp. Silly kitty, thinking you're in real life or something. Too practical for his own good, he doesn't quite realize his life is a Heterodyne story now.

X

• X Days Since...
  • There's one sign counting the days since the last hideous death. Considering the castle's nature, this may be a way of keeping score. (Although, the sign might not be accurate any more, since the guy whose job it was to update it died a hideous death.)
  • There's another one here on Castle Wulfenbach.
• Xanatos Speed Chess
  • This strip.

Tarvek: I can't say any of this mess was part of my original plan, but it's all working out so beautifully, I can't complain.

• • It seems like just about every Spark is playing this whenever they're in the comic, quickly leading to Gambit Pileup.

Y

• Yandere: Fraulein Snaug is getting a bit too enthusiastic about her crush on Moloch, and responded with surprising aggression when he admitted his crush on Sanaa. Good thing Violetta clarified that she wasn't involved with him.
• You!: Klaus' reaction to Zeetha.
• You Can't Fight Fate: Brought up early on by, of all people, Bangladesh DuPree with regards to the visions seen from the electric phenomena, which appear to be portals/visions from the future.
• You Fight Like a Cow: "You fight like ducks!"
• You Have Failed Me... / Outlived Your Usefulness
  • Surprisingly, Agatha to Castle Heterodyne -- see the last panel here for the announcement and this page for the result.
  • Lucrezia in her escape from Sturmhalten abruptly wraps up Lady Vrin as a loose end.
• You Killed My Father: The reason why Agatha is not too keen on accepting Von Pinn's help.
• Your Approval Fills Me with Shame
  • Gil's expression says it all.
  • The castle would prefer Agatha use an alternative word to good to praise its actions.
  • "Delightfully done, my lady. Your enemy is thoroughly crushed. You are a true Heterodyne."
• Your Favorite: Wooster knows how Gil likes his tea.
• Your Mom: "Ah-go kees an hoctopus. Oh vait, hyu mama already deed!"
• You Shall Not Pass: Zulenna against Von Pinn. She actually succeeds until DuPree arrives.
• You Wouldn't Like Me When I'm Angry: Klaus Wulfenbach's official domestic policy is "Don't make me come over there".

Z

• Zeppelins from Another World
• Zombie Apocalypse: Not really zombies, but the Other did create an auto-recruiting army of mindless, malicious, shambling, incurable Revenants under her complete control. Putting them down was the greatest challenge of Klaus' emperor-ing career. The new model looks and acts like any other person. In fact it's strongly implied by Tarvek that the "zombie-like" Revenants were the exception, and acted as misdirection to distract from the nature of the non-shambler Revenants.

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